Today I'm sharing a furniture makeover that took me right back to St. Vladimir Elementary School in the 1960's. I think I spent the first two years of school hiding under my bed each morning because all I wanted to do was stay home with Mom and help her cook and clean. Anybody who knows me is probably having a good belly laugh after reading that last sentence because my least favorite thing to do in life is to cook and clean.

Needless to say, while giving this vintage metal classroom desk a makeover, my mind was flooded with bittersweet memories. If only this desk could talk, judging by all the crayon and etched markings on the wood top. I'm not going to lie, I searched for my initials amongst the others. Wouldn't that have been a fabulous full circle moment!

Today is one of my favorite days of the month because it's Furniture Fixer Upper Day where myself and five talented furniture upcycling friends come together to breath new life into six pieces of furniture. Links to all the makeovers are included at the bottom of this post.

For last month's challenge, I repurposed a Bombay TV Cabinet into a Hollywood Regency Bar. But this month it's all about a vintage metal school desk complete with inkwell. I remember using the inkwell for garbage or as a spitball target on adjacent desks.

More about that spitball target inkwell further down in this post.

Vintage Metal Classroom Desk Painted Aqua

Let's take a look at the school desk before the makeover...

I have to admit this was one of those furniture makeovers where I was flying by the seat of my pants. I was certain about only one thing, that it had to have a turquoise base. The rest evolved as I went along.

I've included a Materials List towards the bottom of this post. It contains affiliate links for your convenience so you can see what products I used or recommend to make this project. What that means is that if you click on one of the product links and make a purchase, I may receive a small portion of any sales at no additional cost to you, which supports the costs of running this site. See my full disclosure policy.

So here's what I did...

Cleaned the base and sanded the wood

The base was in fairly decent shape and just needed a good clean and little sanding in spots. The desktop, on the other hand, needed to be sanded down to the raw wood to remove all the crayon and etched marks from years gone by. The slats had a bunch of stickers on them and the seat was worn from all those little butts squirming around.

Painted the base

The first thing that happened was the base of the desk got three coats of Aqua Rustoleum Painter's Touch Satin spray paint followed by a protective clear coat.

Stained the wood

The sanded wood was treated with Minwax Prestain Wood Conditioner before being stained with Minwax Wood Finish in the color Provincial. The conditioner penetrates the wood to get a uniform stain color.

Or so I thought...

Yikes, I had two options; a) sand the pieces back to the natural wood again OR b) cover the blotchy wood. I chose the second option.

Created a chalkboard

At this point, I had no clue how I could make that blotchy stain look better and this is the point in the makeover where I was flying by the seat of my pants.

I decided to section off a portion of the top and create a chalkboard, reminiscent of an old slate used in classrooms back in the day.

I painted the chalkboard using a 4-inch foam roller and Annie Sloan Chalk Paint in the color Graphite. I much prefer using chalk paint over chalkboard paint because of the quick drying time between coats.

Tip: Any flat paint can be used to make a chalkboard.

Whitewashed the stain

Unfortunately, the chalkboard didn't conceal the blotchy stain and so I covered the chalkboard with paper and applied a wash of white over the stain using Dixie Belle Whitewash Glaze and an inexpensive chip brush.

I dipped the brush into some water first and then into the glaze and spread a thin layer over the stain, wiping the excess with a clean rag. Much happier with how it looked, now the chalkboard felt like it was missing something.

Added Grain Sack Stripes

I framed the chalkboard using a grain sack stripe stencil and turquoise acrylic craft paint, pouncing the paint on lightly.

I added some stripes to the center of the wooden seat as well.

Turned the inkwell into a pencil holder

Turning the inkwell into something useful, I created a pencil holder by recycling a tomato paste can. Using E6000 glue, I attached three L brackets around the lip of the can and let it cure overnight.

The tin can was spray painted with the same Aqua used on the base and attached to the underside of the desktop with small screws.

At the last minute, I decided to paint the ridge used for sticks of chalk or pencils with the same turquoise craft paint used on the stripes.

I have to say, despite tweaking this desk as I went along, I'm quite pleased with the results.

As promised here is the Materials list for the products used to transform this Vintage Metal Classroom Desk.

Items without links on the list can be found in The Interior Frugalista SHOP on Amazon.

I quite enjoy giving children's furniture a new life. I went all diva on a wooden Vintage Student Desk transformation. I also gave a mismatched Vintage Children's Table & Chair Set a fun chalkboard makeover. Wish I hadn't sold that one because my three-year-old grandson would love it right about now.

Have I inspired you to consider giving an old classroom desk a fresh new look? You don't come across these desks often but how fun would they be in a child's playroom. I see lots of "playing teacher" with one of these!

Now let's take a look at how my talented friend's in the Furniture Fixer Uppers group transformed these furniture pieces...

Press the links below to see the after photos and makeover tutorials...

I've come to the conclusion that having a wood deck is a real pain in the...well you know. This weekend was a long weekend for us in Canada and we Mr. Frugalista spent ours stripping peeling stain and replacing rotten boards on our cedar deck. If we planned on staying in this house for another five years I'd definitely splurge for composite decking because we're getting too old for this SHooT.

In my defense, I wasn't sitting around watching Mr. Frugalista do all the work - I was busy working on numerous upcoming furniture makeovers and DIY projects that I'll be sharing soon.

Welcome back to Talk of the Town!

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the first is for DIY/Vintage/Repurposed links and the second for Recipe Links.

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Today I'm sharing how to make a large chalkboard without using power tools. Yup, I went all old school on this one with a hammer and nails and I'm not going to lie, it hurt a little.

Only because I'm out of practice. If I can take the quick and easy route with power tools, I'm on it. But our small compressor is on the fritz and to pull out the one that requires herculean strength for a handful of brad nails was way too much work for this old gal.

I realize not everyone has access to or likes using power tools so this is a way to make a custom chalkboard without. It doesn't matter whether you have a garage or workshop, this project can be made on your living room floor or dining table if you have bad knees like me.

Large DIY Chalkboard - No Power Tools Required

I love chalkboards so much so that I created a dedicated Pinterest board for them here Chalkboard Everything.

Heck, I've even painted a chalkboard on our kitchen wall. But I wanted a larger chalkboard for a prop to use with my furniture makeover photos.

This Large DIY Chalkboard is so easy to make and finish in a few short hours. It'd be even quicker if you didn't have to wait for paint to dry.

I've included a Materials List towards the bottom of this post. It contains affiliate links for your convenience so you can see what products I used or recommend to make this project. What that means is that if you click on one of the product links and make a purchase, I may receive a small portion of any sales at no additional cost to you, which supports the costs of running this site. See my full disclosure policy.

So here's how I did it...

Lumber for the chalkboard frame

I used 1" x 2" Furring Strips to build this simple and rustic chalkboard frame.

Confession: I used a miter saw to cut the wood - why wouldn't I when the thing was sitting a foot away from me. But you could use a good old fashion saw if you don't have access to a miter saw OR better yet, have the home improvement store cut the boards to size for you.

Before assembly, I stained the wood with Minwax Wood Finish in the color Provincial, applied with a clean rag.

Chalkboard Frame Assembly

I built the frame with simple butt joints. First I dabbed some wood glue on the ends of the uprights and joined them with corner clamps. With a good old fashion hammer, I tacked two brown 1-inch nails into each joint.

Chalkboard cut to size

Making the chalkboard is easy. All you need is a sheet of hardboard - they come in 4' x 8' sheets. Ask the home improvement store to cut the board to size for you. Bonus, the offcuts can be used for future chalkboards - they make great gifts!

If they won't cut it for you, measure and mark with a pencil line onto the hardboard sheet. Using a straight edge and a utility knife with a sharp blade, scribe the hardboard until it snaps. It'll take a few scribes to get through the board.

Create the chalkboard with paint

Did you know you can use flat paint to make a chalkboard? What I like about using it over readymade chalkboard paint is the quick drying time between coats. For mine, I used Annie Sloan Chalk Paint in the color Graphite, because I had it on hand.

I rolled the chalk paint on with a small 4-inch foam roller and let it dry about 45 minutes to an hour between coats. It took three coats for full coverage.

Season the chalkboard

Before using a brand new chalkboard it is important that you season it first. To do this you simply rub the side of a stick of chalk all over the board both vertically and horizontally. With a paper towel or clean rag rub the chalk into the pores of the paint in a circular motion. Clean the board with either a chalkboard brush or clean rag.

Chalkboard Assembly

Lay the chalkboard frame with the good side facing towards the floor/surface you're working on. Lay the painted side of the hardboard facing down on top of the frame. With 3/4-inch finishing nails, secure the chalkboard to the frame.

TIP: Save your finger's and use needle nose pliers to hold the short nails while you hammer them in place.

That's it!

I'm so glad to FINALLY have that oversized chalkboard I've been wanting for photo staging.

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